Legal Training for Indian Entrepreneurs at NUJS, Kolkata

The National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (NUJS), a law university exclusively dedicated to legal studies and research, has started a new diploma course on "Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws" – for entrepreneurs and students interested in starting their own ventures. Keeping in mind that a large number of college students have been taking up entrepreneurship, the course has been kept open to anyone who has passed 10+2, is reasonably proficient in English, the usage of a computer and the internet. There is no age limit to join the course since there is no minimum or maximum age for starting a business.As entrepreneurs are not expected to attend regular classes, the course will be entirely online with some optional live classes, and can be accessed with internet from anywhere.

The course is recommended for early stage entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, those who are planning to start their own business or startup company at some point in their career, or work in a decision making capacity and managers who want to add legal skills to their profile. Lawyers who want to work with a startup clientele or would like to develop practical business law skills will also find this course beneficial.

Keeping in mind that the learners will be entrepreneurs, the course is completely online and will be greatly flexible. It can be taken up by students enrolled in any full-time course or even working. However, a minimum commitment of 20 hours a month will be expected. Duration of the course to get the diploma is one year.

“Delivering an effective distance learning course is always a challenge, but this issue has been addressed by deploying cutting edge technology - students will not be merely be given a few modules and then asked to write a test. An online learning management system will help the students to learn actively. NUJS is proud to add this course to its offerings,” says Professor Dr. Ishwara Bhatt, Vice Chancellor, NUJS.

With technological advancement, starting up has become much quicker and cheaper than it was before. The internet has made connecting and networking with the right people much easier. India is now witnessing a boom in startups. As per the annual report of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, more than 65,000 companies register per year. Several bright students from the best universities are leaving attractive salary packages to start their own ventures. Similarly, many young professionals are leaving their jobs in order to build new age companies.

Although India produces more than 90,000 lawyers every year, less than 2 percent opt for corporate law. Existing corporate law firms mostly cater to the top-end corporate and foreign clients. Startups find it difficult to access affordable and quality business lawyers for legal compliance, contract drafting and negotiation during their early stages. Accordingly, there is high demand for individuals with practical knowledge of business law in the world of entrepreneurship. Informal training and mentorship programs for entrepreneurs cater to this demand to some extent. NUJS designed the course keeping these necessities in mind.

“Given that the ecosystem for entrepreneurship is just beginning to bloom in India, this well structured and easily accessible course could not have been more timely. It should form part of the tool kit of every entrepreneur who seeks to establish their imprint on our society through a creative venture of his own!” says Professor Shamnad Basheer, Ministry of HRD Chair Professor of IP Law at NUJS and founder of an IP law blog called Spicy IP.

The first batch of the diploma course starts on the 15th of July. Enrolments are open. Early-bird registrations, i.e. those who pay before 15th June have been promised special freebies.

The syllabus for the course is put up here. More on the "Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws" course here. And more on NUJS, here.